On Gear Live: Samsung S95C: The OLED TV You Can’t Afford (to Ignore!)

Sex & the City cast Everyone’s dying to find out what’s going on with the Sex & the City movie, and insiders know it. The media has been doing their best to find pictures and information on the much-anticipated big-screen version of the popular HBO series, but they’re on to the game. There’s been a ton of buzz about recently-released photos depicting Carrie in a white wedding dress and Charlotte with a telltale tummy bump, but these pictures are meant to add fuel to the fire – not reveal any plot points. The pictures are part of dream sequences in the movie, and don’t have anything to do with the reality of the characters’ lives. One source suggests the pictures are meant to fool fans, showing them what they want to see to keep them from speculating on the actual script. When the series wrapped in 2004, head writer/executive producer/sometime director Michael Patrick King wrote several different endings to fool the press and the fans. If Sex insiders have their way, we won’t know anything until the film is released…and maybe that’s as it should be.

Read More | E! Online

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The war between Blu-ray and HD DVD rages on, but this week the battle looks particularly one-sided.

HD DVD has only one exclusive release this Tuesday (and not even a very good one), which can’t counter-balance the nine exclusive Blu-ray titles.  Now, one could see this as merely a slow week for the format’s proponents—Universal has the one title, and Paramount has zilch—or maybe Fox, Sony and MGM have simply realized that the holidays are fast approaching, and that … well, this is a war! Whatever the case, HD DVD loyalists will find little to drool over this week. As for the Blu-ray fans, they’ll find three day-and-date releases plus a high-def 28 Days Later to supplement its impressive new-release sequel.

Have a look at this week’s HD releases after the jump.

Check out this week’s standard-definition releases,
or take a look at the TV-on-DVD titles.

Click to continue reading This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: October 9, 2007


The Heartbreak Kid

Despite what you may have learned in school, + The Farrelly Brothers does not necessarily equal box office gold.

The team behind There’s Something About Mary took a backseat to last weekend’s winner:  The Game PlanThe Heartbreak Kid, a remake of the 1972 Neil Simon comedy, raked in only $14 million.  While Mary did open with a smaller gross back in 1998 ($13.7M), it’s doubtful this critically-panned movie will become another sleeper hit for the trio.  Thankfully co-star will have the upcoming Gone Baby Gone to wash this disappointment away.

The only other new entries into the Top 10 included the fantasy flick, The Seeker ($3.7M), and the J.Lo-produced dance film, Feel the Noise ($3.1M).  Meanwhile, the well-reviewed Michael Clayton pulled impressive numbers in limited release ($46,000 per screen).  Expect the vehicle to open wide this weekend.

 

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: The Rock Upsets The Heartbreak Kid


Thank You for SmokingThe 2006 film, Thank You For Smoking, will now see itself repackaged as a series.  A television version of the Christopher Buckley novel version had been swirling around for some time (it was once considered by NBC) and has now found a home on cable.

The film adaptation starred as Nick Naylor, a spokesperson for tobacco industry.  His M.O.D. squad (‘Merchants of Death’) friends included and David Koechner (lobbyists for the alcohol and gun industries, respectively).  Naylor did a great job doing what he was paid for, yet had a slight change of attitude by the movie’s end.  The Eckhart-free series would see Naylor supporting those ‘more deserving’ while continuing to ride the moral fine line.

My love for anything Aaron Eckhart has biased me against any remakes—though might have been a good option here.  What do you think?  Do you think this could be pulled off?

Read More | Variety

Surf's Up
  • 28 Weeks Later:  starring Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne
  • Evan Almighty:  starring Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman
  • Poltergeist (25th Anniversary Edition):  starring Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams
  • Reign Over Me:  starring Don Cheadle, Adam Sandler
  • Rise: Blood Hunter:  starring Lucy Liu, Robert Forster
  • Surf’s Up:  starring Shia LeBeouf, Jeff Bridges
  • Twilight Zone: The Movie:  starring Dan Aykroyd, John Lithgow
  • You Kill Me:  starring Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni

Click here to see the TV-On-DVD options for this week.
Click here to see the new titles released on HD DVD and Blu-Ray.

 


Eastern Promises Review

Using the journal of a fourteen-year-old girl who died on her table, a London midwife () becomes determined to track down the father of the motherless baby in her ward.  However, the deeper she delves into the diary, the more entangled she becomes with a string of Russian organized crime, and a mysterious man () who warns her to stay away. That’s the basic premise of the film Eastern Promises. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that, so let’s jump right in to our full review, after the jump.

Click to continue reading Eastern Promises Review


The Kite RunnerAs reported earlier, controversy surrounding a violent scene threatened the big-screen premiere of The Kite Runner.  The adaptation of the popular Khaled Hosseini novel will now be delayed six weeks.

The family of the young Afghan actor raped in the film wanted the segment removed because it would be considered culturally offensive.  They feared they would become victims of retaliation in their own country once the movie premiered.  The family claims 12-year-old Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada would never have participated in the production had they been given a script and/or advance warning of the scene.

Although director (Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland) and the producers all insist Ahmad’s father was briefed on the situation, they have expressed concern for those involved.  In hopes of retaining the crucial scene—and because of increased violence in Kabul—Paramount Vantage is finalizing plans to temporarily move Ahmad and two other actors out of the country.  The movie, originally slated for a Nov. 2nd release, will now be released on Dec. 14th…. several days after the boys finish school.  It’s believed they may return sometime in March—after their summer vacation ends and the movie dust clears.  This decision appears to be something Ahmad’s father is comfortable with.

The movie’s new premiere date will now pit it against another highly-anticipated film, I Am Legend.

Read More | USA Today

Michael Bay Friday the 13thI’ve said it before, and I’ll say it now: I don’t care for remakes. If it’s a new movie, shouldn’t it be a new script? At the very least, an original idea? In the wake of the success of Zombie’s Halloween remake (an idea I rejected outright as soon as I heard about it), director is going to re-do . People…why mess with perfection? Friday the 13th has become an iconic horror movie, spawning a bevy of sequels and a whole new meaning for hockey masks. The re-make will bastardize the original movie, which featured not Jason but his mother as the scary killer. In this new version, Jason will both wear the mask (which didn’t appear in the original Friday the 13th flick) and do the dirty deeds himself. The setting of Crystal Lake, at least, will not be changed. The last Friday flick combined Jason with another horrific big screen villain, Freddy Krueger, in 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason. Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, who wrote the F v. J script, will pen the new version of Friday the 13th. BAH!

Read More | Yahoo News

Fast and the FuriousWell, audiences waited long enough (through two sequels), and now The Fast and the Furious franchise will reward the faithful with an installment several years in the making. That’s right: and will finally reunite and reprise their original Fast roles. Maybe. The two are in talks to reprise their roles as Dominic Toretto and Brian O’Conner, which launched Vin Diesel as a major action star and helped the movie gross more than $200 million worldwide. Walker appeared in 2 Fast 2 Furious, which out-grossed the original, though Diesel could not be swayed from his other movie engagements at the time. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, the third installation in the movie series, featured Diesel only briefly and Walker not at all. The fourth movie will feature more cars, more dirty deals, and hopefully more ticket sales than the third (which nearly grossed $160 million but was considered disappointing to Fast fans). The film, yet to be titled, will begin shooting in LA, Mexico and the Dominican Republic next spring. Diesel and Walker are both currently tied to unrelated movie projects, and neither has confirmed accepting a role in the fourth Fast flick.

Read More | E! Online

Kevin DillonCall it a humorous example of life imitating art.  HBO star has just landed a big screen role in National Lampoon’s 301: The Legend of Awesomest Maximus Wallace Leonidas.  The comedy will spoof a myriad of testosterone-laden movies including 300, Troy, Braveheart and Gladiator.

Fans of know that Dillon’s character (struggling actor ) rose to fame in the short-lived series, ‘Viking Quest’.  (The tagline for the fake series being:  “From the past… comes a warrior of the future.”)  Now in 301, Dillon will get to add his special twist to the Spartan general role.

I’m really hoping the producers of Entourage can somehow find a way to tie in Dillon’s real life role into their show.  The fans of Viking Quest would want them to do it for Johnny.

Read More | Variety

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